Page 30 of Triple the Danger

CHAPTER TWELVE

JAX

He got the text in the middle of the night, while he was curled around Saylor, who he somehow managed to convince to let him stay. Maybe it was the orgasms, or maybe it was that she had such a long, stressful day, but she didn’t fight him too hard on it. He never slept in a bed with a woman before, and while he figured he wouldn’t sleep at all, the moment he felt her relax, he wasn’t far behind her.

Yeah, he was screwed.

He became more certain of his predicament when the text came in and he didn’t want to look at or answer it. That wasn’t like him. He took his duties as part of the MC seriously, and that meant that when his brothers called, he answered immediately, no matter what. So, he forced himself to roll away from her and reached over to check his phone. He saw the message from Savage calling Church in fifteen minutes.

Carefully, he eased out of the bed, making his way out of the bedroom. He used the flashlight on his phone to find his clothes, but he whipped around when he heard the bedroom door open. “Sneaking out without saying goodbye?” Saylor asked him groggily, uncaring of her nudity as she watched him.

“Savage called Church,” he told her as he grabbed his pants and pulled them on, sans underwear. “Not sure why, but being this late, it must be important. I didn’t want to wake you.”

Saylor looked like she wanted to ask more questions, but instead, she merely nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you around.” Then she turned back into the bedroom.

“I’m coming back here when I’m done, Saylor,” he told her.

“Uh-huh,” she called back, and he could tell by her tone she didn’t believe him. Or maybe she just didn’t care. He tried not to get annoyed by that. Saylor had no reason to believe him, even if he wanted her to. She wasn’t a woman he was going to fuck and walk out on after he got his rocks off. He didn’t want her to see him that way, either. Still, he didn’t have time to plead his case, so he finished dressing and headed out of the apartment.

When he got to Church, only half the brothers were already there. Most were the ones that stayed in the clubhouse, but Rogue was also in his seat, looking grumpy as shit at having been pulled out of bed with his woman. For the first time, Jax understood his annoyance.

It was another few minutes before everyone else staggered in. Savage threw himself into his chair, his eyes bloodshot and face lined with fatigue. “This better be fucking good,” he muttered under his breath, making Jax smirk. Then Savage banged down the gavel and looked at Code. “Alright, let’s get to it so we can all get back to bed. Finally got the girls asleep before I left, and if they wake up before I get back, Royal is going to kill me.”

Code nodded, and he put up some images on his screen. “Glitch and I figured out who the third guy is. Saylor has stepped in some deep shit.”

Shit. Jax leaned forward as he watched Code pull up an image of the page of names and amounts that Saylor found in the little black book. But this time, there were pictures of men along the side.

“We identified everyone listed on the piece of paper, and as you can see from the pictures, they all look like regular Joes. Completely unassuming,” Code continued. “But from what I’ve been able to find, these men are actually well known, highly skilled counterfeiters. If you’re looking for fake cash for a buy, or even to pull the wool over a debt collector’s eyes, these are your guys. Not to mention, there is some chatter that they have been recruited by some bigger players to help get fake currency out of the states and into some other countries.”

“So, we’re not talking about a local counterfeiting scheme; we’re talking some serious players, and if that list got out, shit could go bad real quick and we’ll be right in the middle,” Fury summarized grimly.

Code nodded. “That’s the way it’s looking. These guys have some major backers, if the chatter is true. Enough that even if we brought in some of our allies, there is nothing stopping any of these bigger assholes from coming down hard and wiping us all out.” His lips pulled into a very thin line, and the tension in the room was thick.

Jax’s gut twisted at the realization of just what landed on their doorstep. Fuck. This was bad.

“Is this as bad as those traffickers coming after Scarlett and the girls?” Ink asked carefully. “Those bastards were bad. Hell, or when Esme’s father and ex were after her. We handled that shit, we can handle this if we’re careful.”

“The problem is that one of the men in this ring discovered she has the list,” Code continued. “The questions are, how did they figure it out? And how did they know it would have come from Leon?”

“And how did Leon learn of all this in the first place?” Savage added.

Code pulled up what looked to be text messages but were too small to read. “These are messages between Leon and one of the men in the ring, a Jared Long. Jared seems to be the unofficial ringleader. Where Leon pretended to be a banker, this guy is one. A bank manager, actually, and he also deals with investing for some high-profile clients. This guy has a lot to lose if his name is linked with this group.”

“And these messages, they say how Leon put all the pieces together?” Razor asked.

“Sort of,” Code hedged. “From what we can see, the messages started a little over a month ago. One of the other members of the ring, Curtis Lin, got into some trouble with good old Frank. Leon was dispatched to send a message about making sure that money was paid back. About a day after Leon got his orders from Frank, there’s a message to this Jared guy that he has twenty-four hours to hand over the cash, specifying that it has to be real, or he’d be informing Frank and the cops, leaving it up to fate on who got to them first.”

“Why the fuck didn’t they just kill him then, if he stumbled onto their little operation?” Jax wondered, frowning. “I mean, these guys are dealing with some big players, so they have them to call if there are any problems.”

“The lot of them look like a bunch of pansies, so they probably don’t want any blood directly on their hands,” Rogue guessed darkly.

“That still doesn’t explain why they haven’t gone to whoever they’re in business with,” Savage pointed out. “Or how the hell they figured out Saylor has their names.”

Code clicked another button. This time, a different message came up on screen, and Jax could read it clearly.

Leon: If you don’t want your names added to the FBI’s Most Wanted list, you’ll help me find this bitch because she’s got your names and information, and the moment she figures out what she has, you’re all fucked. You can kiss your lives goodbye when your so-called clients find out.

Jax’s frown deepened as he stared at the screen. “Wait, this makes it sound like Leon ordered these guys to go after Saylor,” he remarked. “And it also sounds like whatever the deal is with these clients is about to go south if Saylor releases those names.”

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